Criminal Law Ch.6

Principal

(Although the terms that they use to designate the category may be different, most contemporary statutes assign party responsibility to all those who played some role in the commission of the crime. When compared to the common law categories, this includes the principal in the first and second degree and accessory before the fact categories.) For example, the federal statute defining a __________ to a crime states: "Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal"; the statute also includes willfully causing a federal offense to be done.

Convicted

(Common law party distinctions) These rigid common law distinctions in party responsibility sometimes created challenges. For example, accessories could generally not be convicted until and unless the principal was first __________. (As a result of these challenges, most contemporary jurisdictions have abandoned these categories and have consolidated the categories of party responsibility.)

Statutory Rape

(Immunity from Conviction) Accomplice liability is not possible when one of the parties to a crime is supposed to be protected by the applicable statute. The best example is ____________.

Principal in the Second Degree

A ______________ was 1) present at the crime and 2) aided, abetted, or incited its commission. This might include the lookout or the getaway car driver in a burglary or robbery case.

Principal in the First Degree

A _________________ was 1) present at the crime and 2) did some act that was part of the crime. For example, a (term) might have actually stolen the property in a theft case or hit the victim on the head in a battery case. Could accomplish their acts themselves, or through a) inanimate objects (such as by setting a booby trap) or b) otherwise innocent people they tricked or coerced into committing the act.

Natural and Probable Consequences Doctrine

A person encouraging or facilitating the commission of a crime could be held criminally liable not only for that crime, but for any other offense that was a "natural and probable consequence" of the crime aided and abetted. This has come to be known as the ________________.

Nonproxyable

According to Dressler, a __________ offense "is one that, by definition, can only be perpetrated by a designated person or class of persons." Such offenses introduce complications in the case of multiple offenders.

Accessory

An __________ is typically a participant in a crime after it is committed.

Accessory Before the Fact

An _______________ was 1) not actually or constructively present at the crime, but 2) solicited, encouraged, or commanded the principal to commit it. Thus, this person did something to set the crime in motion, but the crime was actually subsequently committed by another person. (As your text notes, if a person coerced an otherwise innocent person to commit a criminal act, the "coercing party" would be a principal in the first degree rather than an accessory before the fact regarding the crime.)

Accessory After the Fact

An ________________ actually had no role in the commission of the crime. Instead he provided aid to a felon after the commission of the felony and with knowledge of it, for purposes of impeding enforcement of the law. (As you can see, at common law, this area of responsibility did not include post-crime assistance regarding misdemeanor crimes.)

Accomplices

As the text describes, when considering the criminal responsibility of those parties who provide assistance or encouragement to the person who primarily carries out the act constituting a crime, and who the text categorizes as ____________, some special considerations arise. (For example, their criminal conduct can include physical acts, psychological influence, or failure to act if there is a legal duty to do so. In engaging in their conduct, they generally must both intend to aid the primary offender and intend to commit the underlying crime.)

Actus Reus

Assistance by: physical contact, psychological influence, and omission are a part of ________ accomplice liability.

Party Responsibility

At common law, there were four categories of ____________: principal in the first degree, principal in the second degree, accessory before the fact, and accessory after the fact.

Crime

Contemporary jurisdictions have attempted to simplify this approach by assigning party responsibility to all those who played any role in the commission of a ________.

After

Example. After causing a fatal traffic accident, the driver and his passenger fled the scene and were assisted by friends in dismantling the car so it could not be detected. Despite their efforts, the car was discovered and linked to the fatal accident. This is an example of an accessory _____ the fact

Second

Example. If Larry followed Keith into the bank that Keith robbed, with the intention of helping Keith carry bags of loot away, then Larry was "actually present." Example. If Larry sat in a "getaway car" and was prepared to quickly shuttle Keith away from the crime scene, then Larry was "constructively present." These are examples of the principle in the _____ degree

Before

Example. Suppose Rocco, the local mob boss, orders a hit on a rival boss, Gino, in the next town over. His trusted hit man, Marco, does the deed. In this case, Rocco is an (term) because he ordered Marco to commit murder. Marco was arguably not "coerced" because he was the mob's hit man and presumably killed people on previous occasions. This is an example of an accessory _______ the fact.

Mens Rea

For accomplice liability, there are two levels of _________. First, there must be some degree of intent or desire to aid the primary offender. Second, there must also be intent to commit the underlying offense.

Accomplice

In some cases, __________ liability is complicated by the fact that the primary actor or the person acting in the assisting role is protected from criminal liability.

Mens Rea

Intent to commit underlying offense, and intent to aid are part of ________ accomplice liability. (The intent to assist the primary party to engage in the conduct that forms the basis of the offense; and The mental state required for commission of the offense, as provided in the definition of the substantive crime.)

Abandonment

On the other hand, the person acting in an accomplice role can raise a defense of ________ if he notifies the primary actor of his intention to abandon his assistance and makes a good faith effort to stop the crime and neutralize the assistance he has already provided.

Principal

Once again, a ________ is the individual who hires or is in charge of an agent; the agent acts on his or her behalf.

Vicariously Responsible

Party responsibility can also attach to those who play no role in the crime's commission, but are nevertheless deemed ___________ for it due to their special relationship to the crime's perpetrator.

Parent-Child Relationship

Regarding the ____________, vicarious liability might apply in two different ways. Some jurisdictions subject parents to financial responsibility for criminal acts committed by their children. Other jurisdictions have established crimes that define parents' criminal responsibility based on their failure to prevent their children's criminal conduct

Accessory After the Fact

Separate criminal responsibility, sometimes called ____________, is assigned to those who provide certain assistance to a party to a crime after the crime's commission.

Texas

The _______ state statutes defining parties to a crime are more detailed, but essentially arrive at the same result by assigning party responsibility to a person if "the offense is committed by his own conduct, by the conduct of another for which he is criminally responsible, or by both."

Actus Reus

The ____________ for accomplice liability is, at its most basic level, assistance. That is, a person who assists a principal in the commission of a crime has satisfied the (term) of accomplice or accessory liability. (According to Joshua Dressler, there are three means by which assistance is typically provided: "(1) assistance by physical conduct; (2) assistance by psychological influence; and (3) assistance by omission (assuming in this latter case that the omitter has a duty to act).")

Employer-Employee Special Relationship

The _______________ can sometimes result in vicarious liability for an individual or corporate employer for the criminal acts of an employee. For vicarious liability due to this special relationship, we generally require that the employee's action occurred within the official scope of his employment and that the employee's criminal action benefitted the employer in some way (at least in addition to any benefit to the employee).

Omission

The actus reus of accomplice liability can also be satisfied by way of an ___________.

Parties

The persons who can be held criminally responsible for the commission of a crime are designated as the _______ to the crime. At common law, there was a multi- layered definitional approach to (term) responsibility.

Actual (or) Constructive

The presence required for these principal roles could be ________ or _________.

Primary

The principal in the first degree is the _______ offender. More formally, the principal in the first degree is "one who actually commits a crime, either by his own hand, or by an inanimate agency, or by an innocent instrumentality." In other words, such an individual is "the criminal actor." Example: If Ray shoots Larry, Ray is the trigger man, the principal in the first degree. Example: Person setting a booby trap. The booby trap is "inanimate agency" in this instance.

Children

There are two main types of statutes used to hold parents accountable for the actions of their _______. First, every state penalizes "contributing to the delinquency of a minor." Second, many states have taken it a step further by enacting laws aimed specifically at the parents of children.

Mens Rea

There are two parts to the ________ of accessorial liability. First, the accessory must have known that a crime was committed. Second, the individual must have aided the principal for the purpose of hindering arrest and prosecution.

Primary Actor

Unlike at common law, however, today the criminal liability of the person acting in an accomplice role is not totally dependent on the liability of the _________. (For example, even if the primary actor is acquitted or convicted of a less serious crime, the accomplice can be prosecuted and convicted of the crime if the evidence against that person supports a conviction.)

Individual

With ____________ vicarious liability, one person is held liable for another's behavior. For example, in some states, parents can be held criminally liable for their kids' illegal activities.

Actual

_________ presence generally refers to physical presence at the crime.

Corporate

_________ vicarious liability refers to the liability of a corporation, no matter its size, for the criminal conduct of its employees. Its origins can be traced to the medieval doctrine of respondeat superior, Latin for "Let the master answer."

Psychological Influence

__________ generally requires a certain amount of coaxing, encouraging, persuading, or soliciting. Mere presence at the scene of the crime is not enough to satisfy the actus reus component of accomplice liability.

Constructive

__________ presence refers to an act that is part of or assists the crime at the moment of its commission, although carried out at a distance from the crime (such as the lookout).

Vicarious

___________ liability occurs when one person is held liable for the actions of another—and perhaps when the former person has no idea what the latter person is up to.

Vicarious

___________ liability refers to the imposition of criminal responsibility on a person or entity due the criminal conduct of another person, based solely on the special relationship between them. This special relationship is deemed sufficient to impose criminal responsibility on the person or entity even if that person or entity played no role in the commission of the crime. (Because (term) liability is an exception to our core criminal law concepts of requiring that a person engage in a criminal actus reus with a criminal mens rea before imposing criminal responsibility, we sparingly apply this type of criminal responsibility. In addition, usually we impose fines or other financial punishments rather than other punishments.)

Criminal Responsibility

____________ also may attach to those who do not participate in a crime, but are nevertheless held vicariously responsible for the criminal actions of others with whom they have a special relationship.